Sweden: refugees convicted for gang raping teenage girls at party

A Swedish court has yesterday convicted four unaccompanied (and supposedly underage) asylum seekers for gang raping two girls and sexually assaulting a third girl. The attacks happened this winter, during a home party in an apartment at Brandbergen, a town located in the south-east of Sweden.

Six young refugees were present in the apartment when the three girls, aged 16 and 17, arrived. The visitors had previously been told that 3 of the migrant’s girlfriends would join the party as well. When these ‘girlfriends’ failed to show up, the girls decided it was time to leave the party. The migrants then persuaded the girls to stay and even persuade them into drinking hard liquor. One of the convicts had said:

“Do not spoil our evening, we’re going to have fun.”

Soon after the drinks, the girls nevertheless tried leaving the apartment but felt sick because of the alcohol. “It is already late and it’s dark outside, and it is unsafe out there,” stated one of the men.

A 16-year-old girl then passed out and was subsequently dragged to one of the bedrooms where she was raped by a boy who, according to daily Aftonbladet, is 17 years of age. She recalls:

“I was like a corpse, and could not even breathe. I understood what was happening but couldn’t do anything.”

Subsequently, an 18-year man took over, raping the victim several times after ripping off her clothes. When she asked the migrant to stop, he closed her mouth with his hand and locked the door.

At the same time, a 17-year-old girl that had passed out was violently being raped by another one of the refugees. The next day, the victim was bruised all over her body. In court, she described the abuse as “a knife stabbing in my back.” After their ordeal was over, the three girls managed to escape the apartment and subsequently informed the police, who arrested the perpetrators.

The verdicts

Södertörn District Court has now sentenced one of the attackers to ten months in juvenile detention, while another was convicted to one year and ten months prison time. In addition, they’ll have to pay damages to the victims and are expelled from Sweden for a period of ten years. A third migrant, 17, was sentenced to 5 months in youth detention for the rape of the 17-year-old. The court convicted a fourth asylum seeker of assaulting the third girl who was visiting the party. He has been ordered to pay damages.

Since the assault, the victims have been feeling mentally unwell and are coping with self-destructive behaviour. The young men all deny the allegations, claiming instead that there had been “voluntary sex”.

‘Minor’ migrant often older than 18

Until now, Sweden’s migration authorities have been very lenient with age checks and usually accept whatever date of birth the migrants state.

It was nevertheless recently established that a firm majority of the migrants entering Sweden lie about their age: 78,5% are actually adults while claiming to be minors. This not only increases their chances of asylum but, at the same time, significantly decreases maximum penalties they can receive after committing crimes.